What Ke$ha Does When She Can’t Sleep

The 26-year-old may sing about brushing her teeth with Jack Daniels, dancing with no pants on, and partying until the wee hours of the morning, but in order to maintain her onstage rock star presence, the singer says she has to be a little less crazy than her lyrics imply.

"People think I sit around and drink whiskey all day, but I couldn't keep up on a three-month tour if I were getting hammered every night," Ke$ha tells Self. "My show is very energetic — I dance and sing at the same time and run around. Training for a tour is like training for a marathon."

When she's working, Ke$ha, who was raised in Nashville, says she sticks to a strict body-conscious diet. "Eighty percent of the time I watch my portions and eat veggies and lean protein. It's excruciatingly boring, but it makes my body happy." But during the other 20 percent of the time, she lets loose. "I do whatever I want. It's OK to sometimes eat a f----ton of chocolate!"

But it's not just diet that keeps the singer, who is known more for the clothes she doesn't wear than the ones she does, looking good while performing in next to nothing. Ke$ha tells Self she's an avid hiker, runner and rock climber.

"[I] want to look good when I'm nearly naked onstage in front of thousands of people. I'd prefer it to be a pleasant experience when people look at me."

Though don't expect to find her rocking out to her own energetic tunes while she's getting her sweat on. "I've hear my music is great to work out to, but it would be douche-y if I did that," she says. "But I really love that people like to exercise to my music. I want it to bring out the wildness in everyone, and if that encourages you to be a fighter and get fit, that's great."

While she may be much more disciplined than anyone expected, the "Die Young," singer notes she's lucky to get six hours of sleep a night, revealing her bedtime is a still a rock star-worthy 3 a.m. most nights — not that those late-nights are all spent out at the club.